Treating dysfunctional cardiac tissue
Inventors
Annest, Lon S. • Argento, Claudio • Butler, William • Heflin, Ernest
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11399942-B2
Publication Date
2022-08-02
Expiration Date
Abstract
Medical devices, systems, and methods reduce the distance between two points in tissue, often for treatment of congestive heart failure and often in a minimally invasive manner. An anchor is inserted along an insertion path through a first wall of the heart. An arm of the anchor is deployed and rotationally positioned according to a desired alignment. Application of tension to the anchor may draw the first and second walls of the heart into contact along a desired contour so as to effect a desired change in the geometry of the heart. Additional anchors may be inserted and aligned with the first anchor to close off a portion of a ventricle such that the ventricle is geometrically remodeled and disease progression is reversed, halted, and/or slowed.
Core Innovation
The described invention relates to devices and methods for treating congestive heart failure by reducing ventricular volume and reshaping cardiac geometry. A dysfunctional ventricle portion is excluded, and opposed heart walls are brought into contact along a desired contour so that ventricular radius is reduced.
In one aspect, an anchor is inserted through a heart wall, and the anchor is tensionable so that a wall is urged toward another wall positioned on an opposite side of the chamber. The anchor is coupled with a tension member so that tension draws opposed walls into contact along a contour that is rotationally aligned to a desired contour.
In another aspect, a catheter-based system uses a guidewire, a first catheter, and a separate second catheter to deliver a balloon that engages a wall when inflatable. The balloon is inserted through a chamber wall in a deflated state, inflated by delivering fluid through a fluid port, and retracted proximally relative to the wall to urge the wall toward an opposite wall.
Claims Coverage
The partial content identifies two independent claims: a system claim and a method claim. The claim coverage is centered on a catheter-and-balloon wall-urging mechanism and a tensionable anchor that urges a first wall toward a second wall across a heart chamber.
Catheter system with guidewire, balloon, and anchor tensioning
A first catheter with a lumen extends along a longitudinal length; a guidewire is insertable through a perforation in a chamber wall; a separate second catheter is insertable over the guidewire through the wall; a balloon coupled with a distal end of the second catheter is insertable through the wall in a deflated state and is inflatable so that upon proximal retraction of the second catheter relative to the wall an axially oriented outer surface of the balloon engages the wall; an anchor is engageable with the wall; and a tension member coupled with the anchor tensions the anchor to urge the wall toward another wall positioned on an opposite side of the chamber, wherein the second catheter includes a fluid port fluidly coupled with the balloon so that a fluid is deliverable through the fluid port to the balloon to inflate the balloon.
Method of treating a heart using a catheter and retracting an inflated balloon
Advancing a first catheter through a perforation in a first wall of the heart; inserting a guidewire through the perforation in the first wall so that a distal end is positioned in a chamber of the heart; advancing a second catheter over the guidewire toward the first wall; inserting a balloon through the first wall in a deflated state so that the balloon is positioned distally of the first wall; inflating the balloon by delivering fluid through a fluid port to the balloon; engaging the balloon with the first wall; and retracting the balloon proximally relative to the first wall to urge the first wall toward a second wall of the heart.
Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage combines catheter-delivered balloon engagement of a chamber wall with balloon inflation via a fluid port and proximal retraction, together with anchoring and a tension member to urge opposed walls toward one another across the chamber.
Stated Advantages
Documented Applications
No documented applications found
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